When It Was Cool Wrestling (DragonKingKarl)

The 1000 Hours Podcast from Karl 'DragonKingKarl' Stern is all about the pioneer era of pro wrestling. The era before Frank Gotch. Frank Gotch did not just appear out of a void and create pro wrestling for the masses in the early 1900s. Frank Gotch built on over 50 years of a thriving and, at times, hugely popular pro wrestling business. Much of what we, as historians, had to learn from until recent times were published books like From Milo to Londos and Fall Guys. But these books were written 30 to 50 years after the fact. With the research tools we now have available, what is fact verses fiction from source material like From Milo to Londos?

YOU CONTROL THIS SERIES! It will only run as long as it is supported. In order to get another hour of 1000 hours we need a new Patreon supporter at any level or a cash donation via the front page of WhenItWasCool.com to either PayPal or CashApp (Please put “1000” in the note). As soon as it is received, I will produce a new hour. Presently, we are funded up to hour 79.

It's that time of year again, Dave Meltzer has sent out the 2024 ballots for the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame. This is my most popular show of the year (two parts with part 2 airing next week) and we have a lot to discuss this year. Will the multitude of tag teams introduced over the last few years get in? What about the Young Bucks? Who is in danger of dropping off the list? Several new names are now on the ballot. So, let's discuss the 2024 Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame ballot. Part 1.

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I return with my podcast series on the pioneer era of pro wrestling (pre-1900) with a packed show today. Most of it is spent discussing the first, first family of wrestling. Wrestling families are part of its culture: The Von Erichs, The Armstrongs, The Welches, The Funks, The Briscos, The Windhams, etc. But the original first family of wrestling were the four members of John McMahon's family: John McMahon, James Owens, Peter Owens, and Ed Cox. There are multiple American (World) championships between them during the 1870s all were among the top tier of pro wrestlers in America. However, I couldn't help but name the episode after Lucien Marc's missing finger because that is one heck of a story.

YOU CONTROL THIS SERIES! It will only run as long as it is supported. In order to get another hour of 1000 hours we need a new Patreon supporter at any level or a cash donation via the front page of WhenItWasCool.com to either PayPal or CashApp (Please put “1000” in the note). As soon as it is received, I will produce a new hour. Presently, we are funded up to hour 67 .

On this episode I continue the history of pro wrestling at Madison Square Garden podcast series with a detour to Yankee Stadium in 1931 where Jim Londos teams up with the William Randolph Hearst empire to hopefully draw one of the largest crowds in history up to that date. Well, they tried anyway. Then I transition to more talk about the glory era of pro wrestling in the southern United States with more discussion of Jerry Jarrett's Memphis wrestling empire, Ron Fuller's Continental Wrestling, and more.

And now for something different... I have recently found a booklet in my possession I had forgotten about. After closing down the original DragonKing Press Newsletter, I briefly (for 10 issues) launched a volume two. I have now made the DragonKing Newsletter Vol. 2 available as a Kindle book and we will spend a few weeks going through it. Today, we talk about the early history of the Midnight Express, Joe Stecher, and the highly controversial book by Downtown Bruno (Bruno Lauer). Come and join me for some great pro wrestling history!